James Spader brings a different energy to 'The Office'

By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY

James Spader has a penchant for unconventional characters, and his latest, Robert California of NBC's The Office, which returns Sept. 22 (9 ET/PT), is no exception.

By Chris Haston, NBC

A replacement, then a big promotion: James Spader's Robert California replaces Steve Carell's Michael Scott in the acting ensemble of NBC's The Office , but the character has a much bigger role in the series' new season as head of the fictitious Dunder Mifflin paper company.

A replacement, then a big promotion: James Spader's Robert California replaces Steve Carell's Michael Scott in the acting ensemble of NBC's The Office , but the character has a much bigger role in the series' new season as head of the fictitious Dunder Mifflin paper company.

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The manipulative, mysterious California, introduced in May's seventh-season finale, "is a very strange wrench to throw into the works," says the three-time Emmy winner, known for playing quirky characters in such films as Secretary and Sex, Lies and Videotape and the TV series The Practice and Boston Legal.

"I'm not so sure I have a great point of reference for convention myself, and I think I've drawn the things that seem different and maybe things I don't quite understand yet or things I'm curious about because I may not understand them yet," he says.

"There's never been much of an agenda or plan. I just end up doing things that seem like they'd be interesting and would satisfy a certain curiosity I might have."

Spader, 51, is the big name taking the place of departing Steve Carell, but his California and Carell's Michael Scott are very different characters. When the season starts, California has already jumped from Scott's job managing the Dunder Mifflin paper company's Scranton, Pa., branch to the top of its parent company, replacing the Jo Bennett character played by Kathy Bates, who is busy with NBC's Harry's Law.

Executive producer Paul Lieberstein won't say how the show is dealing with Scott's vacancy.

Despite their differences, Spader thinks California can maintain the level of awkwardness Scott was known for with the large office ensemble.

"I think there's some real value in the natural discomfort of strangers. I think he's a good character to continue that. He can provide that very nicely," he says. "There's a certain level of intimidation as well. All of a sudden, you've got a new boss coming in and the old boss was very established and familiar and everybody knew the old boss's buttons and how to respond, act and confront. It's important this new character have a very jarring dynamic with the rest of the cast, just to have it be very different."

That discomfort becomes evident in the opening episode, when the office employees discover a piece of paper left by California that lists them in separate columns, leading to anxiety about its meaning. In another episode, Andy (Ed Helms) and Darryl (Craig Robinson) feel pressure when the musically limited California wants to join their band.

The new boss opens up new story possibilities and character dynamics, Lieberstein says.

California "has a completely different energy, not just different from Michael Scott, but from Jan and David and Charles Miner and everyone we've had in that (management) position over the years," he says.

Producers were delighted with Spader's guest portrayal in May of the enigmatic California, who believes everything boils down to the sexual. ("I wouldn't disagree with him in that area," Spader says.) That led to the invitation to join the cast — Spader will appear in 15 of 22 episodes — and timed well with his acting plans, which include a role in Steven Spielberg's upcoming film Lincoln.

The character mesmerized Office employees who interviewed him for Scott's job in the season finale.

California "is a very exacting man who's interested in the world and in people and in manipulating people, dealing with people, watching people work, winding them up and watching them unwind," Lieberstein says.

Spader says he enjoys working with the cast and praises the writers' work. "I love it. It is a very strange mix of playing with the most pedestrian and the most absurd, mixed together in a way that is unique to this show."

Lieberstein says Spader's integration into the ensemble has been "incredibly smooth," with the actor favoring a precision approach in contrast to Carell's looser, more improvisational style. "It's been great mixing styles."

Spader knows about arriving on a series well into its run, having joined The Practice in its eighth and final season and then taking his character, Alan Shore, to its spinoff, Boston Legal. He won three Emmys for the role.

"There are some really positive aspects to it. When you have something very well established, and all of a sudden you introduce something that's surprising, I think the disruptive quality of that is great fun. It allows for drama."

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